Get knife crime under control, Sajid Javid urges police

Ayodeji Habeeb Azeez was stabbed to death in south London on Sunday. Five men have been jailed in relation to the murder of Beniamin Pieknyi in MarchSWNS

The home secretary has increased pressure on the Metropolitan Police to bring the capital’s knife crime epidemic under control as charities criticised the government’s “painfully slow” response.

Sajid Javid interrupted a trip to the US to call Cressida Dick, the Met commissioner, after yet another week of bloodshed that saw five victims, including three teenagers, stabbed to death.

Having reassured her that he stands with her, Mr Javid told Ms Dick: “We must step up the police response to get the situation under control.”

A 17-year-old boy was in a critical condition after a stabbing in West Hampstead, northwest London, on Tuesday. On Monday a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Tulse Hill, south London, in front of his mother, the third teenager to…

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